He Is Risen

"The Easter Gift"

From April 1, 1956, General Electric Theater presents "The Easter Gift," the story of a family coming together at Easter, starring Macdonald Carey. Pretty common for G.E. to show a program like this for a religious holiday.


This year, ABC's annual showing of The Ten Commandments is Saturday night rather than Sunday; I've always been curious as to why an Old Testament story is shown at Easter, but we'll let it go for now. NBC's showing "Jesus Christ Superstar" live this Sunday evening, and I have an opinion on that, but not having seen the musical in any format, it's probably a good idea that I don't share it. TCM has their traditional movie marathon over the week, including Ben-Hur, King of Kings, and Easter Parade. At any rate, at least television is doing something to acknowledge the day    TV  

He is Risen

Matthew 28:1-7:

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

4 and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

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Christ is Risen!  And on the 275th anniversary of its debut, as an Easter piece, we celebrate with Händel's Messiah, and the ending of the Easter Motet of this sacred selection, that I participated in 2009 as a one-off at the church where my Sunday morning Bible study teacher's son and daughter-in-law (who died a few years ago of cancer) attend.  One of the choir members also shared a voice teacher with me for a year (Leah Hungerford, 2003-04).  (How can you attend church and be stuck with bad Top 40 hits when you can have the real material?

Holy Week: He Was Despised

Part II of Händel's Messiah, as we've known, was released for Easter, and in 2017, is the 275th anniversary of the release of the Eastertide piece (which sadly, most do not see it in the liturgical calendar).

These selections from the grandeur of Georg Frederich Händel represent the Passion of the Christ. Yet they are rarely heard in most areas as the second (Easter) and third (Pentecost) are rarely heard in performances.  As churches are being sold to the river by Big Entertainment's push to influence the music ministries of churches to sing whatever they are pushing, and churches led by loud rock bands are starting to control communities (those self-help Life Enhancement Centres skipped church on Christmas Day when it falls on a Sunday and are sometimes "Universal Music Only" congregations, a reference to the "one translation only" churches), and other well-known churches are now singing the latest hits from Sacramento's KLVR-FM on screens, with no musical notation listed, generations are sadly losing the appreciation of the masterpieces as they are only fed Top 40 hits.  The consequences show when they are older, as they only associate church with parties and self-help, and not of studying God's Word.

But let's listen to a set of pieces today from Messiah that fit our Holy Week:

Holy Week: "All Glory, Laud, and Honor"

All glory, laud and honor,
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To Whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.

NOTE:  The above refrain is sung at the beginning and after each verse below.

Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David's royal Son,
Who in the Lord's Name comest,
 The King and Blessed One.

The company of angels
Are praising Thee on High,
And we, with all creation,
In chorus make reply.

The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our prayer and praise and anthems
Before Thee we present.

To Thee, before Thy passion,
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.

Christ Arose!

DETAIL, THE RESURRE>CTION, CARL HEINRICH BLOCH

It's the triumph of God. It's Resurrection Morn. Christ arose! Happy Easter!

He Is Risen!

Resurrection, by Raffaellino del Garbo.
Originally for the church of the Benedictine monastery of Monte Oliveto

Those who have read Our Word over the years understand our enjoyment of sacred music, and we have always enjoyed serious sacred music, and we've spurned away from the man-centred music that has sadly come to dominate in our churches thanks to Oregon Catholic Press, GIA, Vivendi, Sony/ATV (the Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony), and Warner Music Group.

For this Easter, we celebrate Christ's resurrection with Beethoven's Mount of Olives. ◙

Holy Saturday reflection

Traitors who so deeply grieve me, see how much my heart loves you.
To forgive you is my vengance.
You revile me in my shame.
Hear my earnest heartfelt prayer that our God fills you with grace.
This we learn is Christian love.
God, Jehovah, most holy one, You forgive the sinner all sins.
God, Jevovah, gracious one, You bestow the fallen grace and mercy.
Blest are they who follow you.

-- the duet in Der Tod Jesu (Graun, translated, L. Quackenbush, U. Wachsmann-Linnan.) ◙

Opera Wednesday - Good Friday Edition

On this Good Friday, here is some of the most famous classical music of the season: the Good Friday scene from Act III of Wagner's Parsifal. Kurt Moll is Gurnemanz, with Sigfried Jersulam as Parsifal and Waltraud Meier as Kundry, in this performance by the Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine. ◙ 

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth!

As we have previously mentioned, the full Händel's Messiah was written not for Christmas, but as an Easter piece. Among readers, I wonder how many people have seen the entire piece live? Having attended a 2006 South Carolina Philharmonic production of the wondrous work with Hill, Hanna, Cuttino, and Rattray, I cannot say enough about the full piece, and not the excerpts-only (Part I only, for the most part, at most church and choral productions, is a Christmas setting, but it's Part II and III that are Easter settings) and when processed hot dogs, cotton candy, MSG, and breaded fried foods is the way of most "church" music today, it makes you yearn for the whole foods of grass-fed beef, grilled Alaskan salmon, free-range chicken, organic vegetables, and the freshness of a farmer's market or the wonders of a Whole Foods Market that you will find in the true church works.

Part III starts with the soprano's aria "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth". The one time I heard this piece live was the 2006 Philharmonic production, with the Mississippi Squirrel singing this solo (ever wonder why I dropped to the main tier instead of my Grand Tier seats for that? It is, after all, one who made me a classical singer and admire the genre, and made the classical turn of my late 20's) I had to ask why we weren't singing this material in churches today. Why did I waste so much time? Would this have been drilled more if I had stayed in The City, making it a younger me who would have sing more in his youth? And why are churches thinking jiggling to certain hip-hop artists has more value than this?

This production provided today is from Outside the Beltway, December 2007, with Julie Thomas singing the selection. The Christ Is Risen! ◙

The Christ is Risen!

I had to choose going Down Under for this nice early autumn day for this version (Brisbane Concert Choir; remember the seasons flip-flop in Australia!) for #53 ("Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" and "Amen") of Messiah HWV 56 from Händel for today's Easter meditation. As we celebrate the Resurrection Morn, I reflected that I've only sung this once (December 2006) in concert setting and I've exhorted it in Liliann's singalong, regardless of the soprano soloist being Stallard (2005), Vance (2006, 2009), or Hill (2007-08). For this Resurrection Morn, naturally, I had to turn to my old standby to celebrate!

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath received us to God by His Son.
To Receive Power, Wisdom, Strength, Honor, and Blessing.
Blessing and Honour, Glory and Power, Be Unto Him That Sitteth Upon the Throne, Unto the Lamb
Forever and Ever. Amen. ◙

Surely He Hath Borne Our Grief -- Holy Saturday

It is a sad state of affairs when young singers with an appreciation of serious music are forced to the sidelines and can only sing one-offs with larger-area church choruses for major productions, or community choruses because the churches in the area are dead set on the karaoke drivel of "worship music", which has become keyword for rock music spoken. This has happened to me, and I've had a few one-offs for Händel's Messiah. In a 2006 production in Charleston of selections that I sang, I had the opportunity to sing a song that was always intended for the Passion season, and why I've considered Messiah an Easter piece. It is "Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs," and I admired Stephen Distad (director) and Beverly Bradley (organist) for those selection years ago when I sang the piece. Sadly, I rarely hear this selection when I usually hear it, for most Messiah productions (including last fall's one-off) are oriented to the first 21 selections, along with #44 and #53.

(I attended the 2006 South Carolina Philharmonic version with Nicholas Smith as conductor and it was the full piece -- Cynthia Hanna was the alto, but I don't even want to talk soprano -- too close to my heart! If you're read my blogs you should know the soprano's name!)

Enjoy this selection of solemnity as we go through Holy Saturday of #24, #25, and #26 of Messiah. When I hear "Surely He Hath Borne Our Grief" I could just picture what happened on those mournful days, and reflect on the time I sang it myself, and even -- well. ◙

Opera Good Friday

This is the famous Good Friday Music from Act 3 of Wagner's Parsifal. Sigfried Jerusalem plays Parsifal, with Kurt Moll as Gurnemanz, and James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera. From the description at YouTube, this summary:

Parsifal, after many years of wandering, appears with the spear that will heal Amfortas's wound. Gazing on the beautiful meadows, Parsifal says that on Good Friday every living thing should only sigh and sorrow, and the radiant Good Friday Music is a poignant meditation on the chief themes of the opera: suffering, compassion and redemption.

For more, you can check out this piece from a few years ago. ◙

Flashback: A Song of the Passion

We head towards Maundy Thursday today, and the most solemn of days in Holy Week. As we look ahead, we look back to a few Christmas seasons past, where we who have read this blog for years learned about a popular Christmas song that actually has Passion-themed messages -- and sadly has been ignored. Let's flash back to this 2008 article where we uncovered the Passion of the Lyrics in a popular song. ◙

Easter Monday

By Bobby

Last December Mitchell had a reference to the Christmas classic, "What Child Is This" that made the song appropriate for Easter. As I reflected Easter night, on the song after finishing my tax filing work. I'd love to talk with the music director at church to learn this work, but sadly, the
congregation has sold out to the GIA / OCP / EMI / UMG / WMG sap. Thanks for inspiring me!

And of course, there's nothing like "Hallelujah" from Händel, "Hallelujah from the Mount of Olives" by Beethoven, or even "Crown Him with Many Crowns". Those fit the theme of this Resurrection Sunday and send this tenor soaring!

We need to find real music for the Resurrection. Much of the party music released by the major publishers does not fit with the theme, considering the lessons I learned from a singer from Laurel, Mississippi.

It was only fitting on that Charleston Easter morn when I heard Selection #44, "Hallelujah," from Händel's Messiah, on that Easter morning. It was 267 years ago today (April 13) that the masterpiece we know debuted, and it was for Easter, not Christmas, that it was performed. And legend has it that on a performance that King George II stood for this selection, something that has been passed throughout all generations. Yet for a friend's wedding in 2007 (she is pregnant and expecting very soon; please pray for her -- she was the one who caught the singing bug to me), the congregation did not even stand for it but did for a pair of Chris Tomlin ditties that lack theology and doctrine. It was a florist who came to me at the reception and noted I was the only one who even stood for the masterpiece.

Finding other pieces like this John Stainer piece on the Web I found is highly appropriate for the season. We have to learn more of the great masterworks.

Happy Easter!